First day of training's done, now what? ;)

Everything on my body ached. As I lay in my shiny, cave-like nest, all I could think about was how much it hurt. Most of my scratches had started to scab. Every muscle screamed as if it was on fire. The worst thing was the hunger. A tight gnawing at the pit of my stomach.

I had been too exhausted to look for something to eat after training last night. Now the early morning sun shone down and I still hadn't eaten since I caught those mice with Father two nights ago. It was unbearable.

I lifted myself up on weak paws, against the protests of my aching muscles. I left behind my now blood stained nest and practically dragged myself over to the rubbish pile a little ways away. Something smelled good.

With a slash of my claws, I broke open one of the lumps. Its contents spilled everywhere. Strange objects of every shape and size filled my vision. This was what twolegs piled up?

Despite the strange colors, the smell beckoned me on. I pawed my way through the pile until I happened across a slightly blackened lump of meat. Thrush maybe? Possibly a featherless sparrow? I wasn't sure, but it smelled like a bird. My mouth watered at the sight of it. FOOD!. Clamping down on it with my teeth, I dragged the meat out of the pile back towards my nest.

The prey didn't even struggle. The twoleg must have killed it and not eaten it. Stupid twoleg. Oh well. Their stupidity was my good luck.

As soon as I was in the shelter of my nest, I ripped into the bird. "Mmmmmmm…" It was the best thing I ever tasted. I took off chunks with my claws before snatching the pieces up in my jaws.

BANG! I dropped the piece of food in my mouth in surprise. The sudden noise rang over and over in my ears. "What the-"

"Hey! Kit!" Timber's face appeared upside down from the edge at the top of my nest. "Come on. It's time for your next day of training."

My heart dropped. No… I eyed the meat laying at my paws. "But I'm eating." The words were supposed to come out as a whisper but echoed around until it sounded like a shout.

He rolled his eyes. "Finish the bite you're on and hurry up. Food can wait."

Reluctantly, I picked back up the morsel I had dropped and gulped it down. Then I padded back out on unsteady paws. Stupid sore muscles. Why can't fighting come easily like it did for Father?

With a painful leap, I landed on the top of my nest with Timber. He looked down on me with cold eyes. "Good. Now come on." He twitched his tail, beckoning me to follow, and jumped onto the nearby fence.

I leaped after him. "Where are we going," I puffed. He didn't answer. Just stared ahead. He was back to his fast pace, and I had an even harder time keeping up with him. "Please wait. I can't keep up."

He didn't slow. "No. If we are going to get there on time, then you'll need to go faster."

His answer made my heart drop more. Tears of frustration started to well up, but I fought them back down. It wasn't fair. Couldn't I at least get a day to get used to all this? A picture of Mother and Father popped into my head. I missed them. I wanted to go home, not fight mean cats and feel hungry all the time.

"Timber…" I started, not sure what he would say. "When can I go back home? When can I see my Mother and Father?"

He stopped dead in his tracks. Again, I was going to fast to stop in time and I rammed into his hind quarters. "Oof."

He turned back to me, not even noticing that I rammed into him. There was a harsh glint in his amber eyes. "When will you see your parents," he asked incredulously. "When will you go home? What do you think this is? Some little game? You're part of Bloodclan now, Ice. That's not something to be taken lightly. You're bound to this clan more tightly that you could imagine. More tightly than any family. There is no going back. No. Chances are, you'll never see your parents again."

A trickle of ice ran down my back. Never see them again? "But… but… but they were my family. That garden was my home." How could I just never see them again? The tears that had threatened to spill now flowed over. It felt like a set of Striker's claws just tore into my chest. "I.. I.. wanna go home! I WANT MY MOTHER!" I cried. Sobs racked my body. I must have looked pitiful. Some warrior I had turned out to be.

Timber snorted and rolled his eyes. "Now Ice.." another wail escaped my lips. His ears slowly lowered, and his eyes seemed to soften. Almost imperceptibly.

I lifted my front paws over my eyes to stop the tears. "I… I… hic… want to be strong.. hic… but not… hic…. like this...hic"

There was a soft pressure on the back of my neck. The fence disappeared from under my hind paws. I moved my front paws to see Timber gently carrying me by the scruff along the fence. I didn't even feel a jostle as he walked at that quick pace of his down the fence. I looked up to see him staring straight forward with glassy eyes. "Timber?"

"Don't worry about me dropping you," he mumbled around my white scruff. "Take a second to get ahold of yourself before we get there."

I sniffed a little, and wiped a tear away from my eyes with a paw. It wasn't Timber's fault, I realized. He doesn't make the rules. I thought back to that little black cat who scratched my ear. Scourge. He was the leader. He must be. I could tell by the way the other cats had acted around him. It was his fault I couldn't see Mother and Father.

"Is it because Scourge won't let me?" My question hung in the air for a moment. Timber continued to walk his fast pace. For a moment, I thought he might not have heard me.

"Yes," he said after a moment. "He doesn't want to risk anything. He's got... plans. You are important, Ice, but only if you focus on doing your best. Anything that can sidetrack you must be ignored. Even your parents. If you can do that, then you can do great things."

Again he mentioned something about a plan. I was curious. Just what was this plan, and what do I have to do with it? I nodded my understanding, but deep inside I knew that I wouldn't be able to focus only on fighting. Not when I was hearing more and more about this "plan." I was going to find out what it was, no matter what.

"Are you ready to act like a sane cat now," Timber's words broke through my thoughts.

I nodded and looked up at him. "Yes. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things." I meant what I said. I missed my old life, but thinking about that scary cat, Scourge, reminded me why I was here. "I'll do what it takes to become a warrior like Tigerclaw."

Timber set me back down on the fence. This one looked different than the one we started on. "Good." He looked down on me with a new look on his face. Not quite warm, but something else. Understanding. "Sometimes hunger can make us do and say things we regret. There is not much food in twolegplace for all of Bloodclan." He motioned around all us with a paw. "You must learn to live with it and use it to your advantage, not let it control you."

I tilted my head. Could it really have been hunger that made me cry? Was that the problem? If I hadn't still been hungry… If I had finished that meat lying in my nest… Would I have been more excited for training like I was last night when I wasn't hungry? I shook my head to clear it. It didn't matter. "Okay, Timber. I'll try."

His lips curled slightly at the ends in a tiny smile. "Good. Now let's get to your next lesson." He leaped off the fence and I followed. "Ice, it's time you met Scourge's right-hand cat."

I froze as I recognized the two cats in front of me. This was going to be bad. Very bad. In front of me stood the giant black and white cat that had been with Scourge. Bone. And just behind him, looking smug, stood the one cat I had immediately learned to hate.

"Today," Timber continued. "You will be learning to fight with the help of Bone and Striker."

DuhDuhDuuuuuuuuuhhhhh! Slight cliff hanger. Yes. Ice will have to fight Bone and Striker at the same time. Who do you think will win? Tiny, four moon old kit with claws to small to scratch, or the big burly Bloodclan deputy? The results may shock you, or not depending on how good of a guesser you are.

If you like this story so far, then hold onto your hats because the prequel is coming! I'll probably have the first chapter of The Traveler Falling up before the end of the week, so keep your peepers peeled. ;D

Question of the Chapter: Compared to how Timber was in the beginning, how do you feel about him? Like, love, hate, or don't care?